When Noel was a sophomore at Everett High School in Massachusetts, he fractured the growth plate in his left knee five games into the season and missed the rest of the year.

His former coach, John DiBiaso, told the Courier-Journal that doctors advised Noel to rest his knee through the summer, but that Noel’s advisers wanted him to return sooner and he began playing for his travel team in the spring.

The coach of Noel’s travel team, Leo Papile, said Celtics’ team physician, Dr. Brian McKeon, cleared Noel to play that spring.